Assalamu Alay Kum
Is it permissible to buy gold online and have it stored in vaults in different locations in the world? An example of this would be Bullionvault where the gold is allocated and they publish custody lists.
Extra to this, is that Bullionvault have a promotion of giving £1 worth of silver free to trade with. Would it be allowable to accept this and trade with it?
Jazakumallahu Khairan
Wa alaykum salaam,
Yes, from a possibility perspective, it is possible to structure a Shariah compliant product where the gold is kept in a vault somewhere and traded.
I cannot comment on Billionvault without reviewing their structure. In terms of the £1 worth silver, can you share the T&Cs?
An except from the site https://www.bullionvault.com/help/promotions.html reads:
Our promotion usually gives you 1/8 oz (4g) of silver bullion, $1 (US Dollar), €1 (Euro) and £1 (British Pound)… You cannot withdraw your promotional balance unless you’ve funded your account, and if you abandon your account we’ll take back the balance after a month or so, so that someone else can have a go. If you do fund your account you’ll be adding to the balance you already own and it will be permanently yours…We want everyone to try BullionVault but our promotion gets you real silver, and has to be limited. Although it’s unusual sometimes there’s no spare silver available when you register. When that happens we’ll usually put some silver in your account within a couple of days and email you to tell you we have done so.
I would like to buy some vaulted gold with Bullionvault. Please, would you be able to review their structure to see if it is permissable to proceed?
Jazakumallahu khairan for all your efforts.
Wassalam
If you are interested in purchasing gold, have you considered theminted.app who operate in a Shariah compliant manner?
Alhamdulillah, that seems to meet my needs!
Barakallah Feekum
Silver and platinum trading fees called as mark up and mark down in bullionvault …is it aloowed according to sharia? #questions-for-ifg-mufti
Assalaamu alaykum,
They mention the following:
To satisfy HMRC’s VAT regulations we do not charge commission on silver and platinum trades. Instead the monetary amount of any charges is added to your purchase price as a mark-up, or deducted from your sale price as a mark-down. The resulting net price is the basis of our contract, and no commission is charged. You are not disadvantaged by this re-classification of our fees. All silver and platinum trades are dealt on a matched principal basis.
Hence, it is fine.